The present invention is directed generally toward known types of automatic drip type coffee appliances which are adapted to brew tea. Known appliances normally employ a reservoir for water, an electric heating element to heat the water, a chamber for holding coffee grounds and a container disposed below the chamber. The chamber contains a bottom opening and the heated water is caused to drip into the container. The heated water absorbs the essence of the grounds and drips downwardly into the container as brewed coffee. The design parameters of automatic drip type appliances are properly adjusted for this function. However, if tea leaves are substituted for the coffee grounds, it has been found that the design parameters used for brewing coffee are not appropriate for brewing tea. In particular tea, unlike coffee, must be steeped in heated water for an appropriate period for proper brewing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,983 discloses an appliance of the automatic drip type wherein the design parameters are varied in such manner that tea can be steeped automatically to provide properly brewed tea. In this appliance, a container defines a chamber to receive coffee grounds, tea leaves, tea bags or the like and a receptacle for receiving brewed liquids. The container includes an outlet port disposed above the lowest portion of the chamber which is dimensioned to communicate with the receptacle. The container also includes a drain port disposed at the bottom of the chamber and means for opening and closing the drain port. In use, water is discharged into the chamber with the drain port closed. Enough water is discharged to cause the water level to reach the outlet port. Excess water is discharged directly into the receptacle via the outlet port. After the brewing cycle is completed, the drain port is opened and the brewed tea flows into the receptacle via the drain port.
In this appliance, the receptacle and chamber are separate individual units and the remaining structure which incorporates the reservoir and heating element is yet another unit.
The present invention is directed toward an improved type of appliance which can be used to brew tea wherein a chamber having the same function as in the patented appliance but modified in its geometry is permanently incorporated into a modified structure which contains the reservoir and heating element, thus forming a single common unit whereby only one additional unit, a separate receptacle, is required.